Articles by Kristen Michaelis CNC

Kristen Michaelis CNC is a published author and teacher. She's created a general nutrition curriculum used by classrooms around the US and written Beautiful Babies -- a book on nutrition for fertility, pregnancy, and breastfeeding that premiered at #1 on Amazon in its category, beating out What to Expect When You're Expecting.

About the Author

Kristen Michaelis CNC has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2008. Founder and CEO of Food Renegade, she's a passionate advocate for REAL FOOD -- food that's sustainable, organic, local, and traditionally-prepared according to the wisdom of our ancestors. She earned a Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) from Dallas Baptist University in Philosophy and Biblical Studies, then began her post-graduate journey as a researcher in the fields of health and nutrition. While she adores hats & happy skirts, nothing inspires her quite like geeking out over nutrition & sustainable agriculture. Nutrition educator & author of the go-to book on nutrition for fertility, she's also a rebel with a cause who enjoys playing in the rain, a good bottle of Caol Isla scotch, curling up with a page-turning book, sunbathing on her hammock, and parenting her three children as they grow into young adults.

Where’s The Butter?

It’s not where you think it is. Not long ago, someone was treating me to breakfast and took me to I.H.O.P. I asked the waiter if he could bring me butter, and he brought me margarine.

“Excuse me,” I asked him politely, “but do you have any butter butter? Real butter, I mean, not margarine?” His momentarily confused expression quickly passed, and then he promised to go ask his manager.

Five minutes later, the manager came out and asked me what I wanted. I reiterated that I simply wanted some butter. I wasn’t trying to be a pain, but surely the restaurant had real butter somewhere back in the kitchen.

Five minutes later, he returned. “We don’t have any butter,” he said.

How To Recover Gut Health After Antibiotics

In past generations, the same infectious diseases that would have impaired or killed us are easily halted through a simple course of antibiotic medication. While I’m not in favor of contaminating our food supply with antibiotics, using them wisely in order to stop the progress of acute disease is extremely valuable. But one of their unfortunate side effects, however, is that antibiotic drugs are not selective in choosing which bacteria to kill. All the good bacterial colonies in the gut die along with the bad. Because of that, readers often write to me asking how to recover their gut health after a round of antibiotics.

Is Pressure Cooking Healthy?

Does pressure cooking preserve nutrients or destroy them? Does it denature proteins? Create carcinogens? I’ve heard all this and more about pressure cookers. So, what’s the truth?

Grass-Fed Meats: Health Benefits

According to a Mother Earth News story, “Supermarket beef is an unnatural, industrial product. The good news is there are better and safer options.” Okay, so if you shouldn’t eat industrialized meat, what should you do?

Should You Drink Coffee?

Want to know whether or not coffee is good for you? So did I. Here’s a few cons and a few pros to ponder.

Rogue GMO Wheat – Dangers and Costs

The USDA has now identified the unapproved rogue GMO wheat they found growing in a field in Washington State last month. MON 71800 is a strain of genetically-modified wheat made to resist Round-Up. The Round-Up Ready Wheat is not approved for commercial use in the US or anywhere in the world. Monsanto, the wheat’s creator,…

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I love all things Mexican. Food. Clothes. Little native villages perched high up in the mountains. In my home, taco meat and refried beans are veritable staples.

Sadly, store bought taco seasoning is full of nasty stuff with an ingredients label that reads like a chemistry textbook. If you’ve been wondering how to replace those small packets of MSG-riddled spices with something real, you should give this recipe for homemade taco seasoning a try.

Chlorinated Showers & Baths Kill Gut Flora

It makes intuitive sense that drinking chlorinated water can create imbalances in your intestinal flora. We know that chlorine will kill many of the good bacteria and microbes that live symbiotically with us in our gut. These good bacteria help us digest our food, keeping us serene and healthy. But most of us fail to take this thought to it’s logical end. I know I did.

You see, I thought that if I just drank filtered water, I’d have my bases covered. It never even occurred to me that the chlorine in my shower and bath water could be just as damaging, if not more so. That’s because your skin is your largest organ, and it’s naturally gifted with the ability to absorb both nutrients and toxins.

How to Tell if Your Olive Oil Is Fake

Ever since journalist Tom Mueller broke the story about how more than 70% of the extra-virgin olive oil sold in the world is fake (cut with cheaper oils), olive oil lovers the world over have been scrambling to find authentic, 100% real olive oil. But how can you tell if your olive oil is fake or not? Does the fridge test really work? What about the oil lamp test?

Epsom Salt Baths Improve Health

Epsom salt baths have become my latest indulgence. When I want a quiet, relaxing moment, I pour an Epsom salt bath, lock the bathroom door so my kids don’t barge in, turn down the lights, start my MP3 player on my favorite music, and … soak. Yet Epsom salt baths don’t just calm noisy souls, they improve health as well!